Arrested: Hashim Nzinga, 49, was taken into custody on Monday at the office of his probation officer and charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm

A New Black Panther Party leader who offered a $10,000 reward for the capture of the man who killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida was himself behind bars in suburban Atlanta today on a weapons charge.

Hashim Nzinga, 49, was arrested on Monday at the office of his probation officer and charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, said Adrion Bell, spokesman for the DeKalb County Sheriff's Department.

Nzinga was convicted in February of deposit account fraud. In March while on probation for that felony, Nzinga allegedly sold a handgun to a pawnshop, Bell said.

Nzinga on March 24 announced that his organization was offering a $10,000 reward for the capture of George Zimmerman, Martin's killer.

Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch
volunteer, shot and killed the unarmed Martin on February 26 during a
scuffle in a gated community in the central Florida city of Sanford.

Zimmerman, a white Hispanic, claimed
self-defense and has not been charged with any crime in connection with
the killing of the black teen and the case has prompted nationwide
protest demonstrations and allegations of racial bias.

New Black Panther organizer Mikhail
Muhammad told CNN on Monday: 'We're here to make them do their job. We
will support Trayvon's family, but we are military.'

Mr Muhammad went on to say he does not 'obey the white man's law, I don't follow the American law.'

'According to the street people's
law, (Zimmerman) has been charged with murder - according to street law,
according to God's law,' he said.

Killing: Trayvon Martin (left) was shot dead by George Zimmerman (right) on February 26 in a gated community in Sanford, Florida

News of Nzinga's arrest comes as the lead homicide detective in charge of investigating the Trayvon Martin shooting revealed he wanted to arrest Zimmerman for killing the unarmed teen.

Chris Serino, an investigator with the Sanford, Florida, Police Department, believed Zimmerman should be charged with manslaughter, but the local state attorney overruled him, saying there was not enough evidence to convict him of a crime, it was revealed this afternoon.

Manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison in Florida.

Anger: Rev Jesse Jackson, right, speaks as Rev. Al Sharpton listens during a community forum on slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin at the Macedonia Baptist Church in Eatonville, Florida

Too young: Trayvon Martin, seen here in a family photo from a ski trip, was simply holding Skittles when he was shot

New picture emerges: This photograph, taken from a Twitter account the reportedly belonged to Trayvon, shows an older image of the teen -- just as new reporting are casting a different light on his behavior

According to police reports and accounts given by Zimmerman's lawyer, Craig Sooner, the 28-year-old's nose was bloody or broken, his lip was bleeding and he had a bloody gash on the back of his head.

As the national outcry over the shooting continued to gather momentum, Zimmerman's allies say he was in a 'fight for his life.'

'It's not a racial issue. George Zimmerman is absolutely not a racist,' Zimmerman's lawyer told the Today Show Monday. Zimmerman is half white and half Hispanic.

His friend Joe Oliver joined his lawyer for several TV interviews Sunday and Monday to publicly defend Zimmerman.

'The bottom line is there was a life and death struggle in that instance and someone was going to die,' Mr Oliver told the Today Show.

‘Because he was there and he knows what happened...he's been very confident -- naively -- that this would all blow over,' Mr Oliver said in an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America Sunday. He added that Zimmerman cried for days after the incident.

Support: New York state senators Kevin Parker (left) Bill Perkins (center) and Eric Adams wear hooded sweatshirts during session in the Senate Chamber in Albany this week to show their support for Florida teenager Trayvon Martin

Rushing to his defense: George Zimmerman's friend, Joe Oliver (left), and his attorney, Craig Sonner (right), said the neighborhood watch volunteer shot Trayvon Martin in self-defense

Police did not arrest Zimmerman after the February 26 because he cited Florida's so-called 'Stand Your Ground' law, which does not require residents to retreat and allows them to defend themselves when they have reasonable belief that they will be killed or severely injured.

That law could also make it difficult to win a conviction if they file charges against Zimmerman, a top prosecutor told Good Morning America Monday.

'The Stand Your Ground law is one portion of justifiable use of deadly force,' veteran State Attorney Angela Corey said.

'And what that means is that the state must go forward and be able to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt… So it makes the case in general more difficult than a normal criminal case.'

Despite being legally justified, according to friends, Zimmerman is remorseful about killing Trayvon.

Mr Oliver said Zimmerman wishes he could tell the boy's parents he is 'very, very sorry.'

The interviews followed a new report that Justice Department investigators may try to charge him with a hate crime, and they are thought to be using the alleged murmuring on the 911 call to argue he said a racial slur before fatally shooting the teen.

Even if Zimmerman is not charged, the entire Sanford police department may be investigated regardless to see if they destroyed or hid any evidence during their initial investigation.